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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912608">No Place for Shadows</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitlincheri28/pseuds/Caitlincheri28'>Caitlincheri28</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drabble Rambles [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Hogwarts Eighth Year</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:28:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>638</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitlincheri28/pseuds/Caitlincheri28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>First attempt at writing FanFiction :)</p>
<p>Thank you for stopping by!</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Drabble Rambles [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Place for Shadows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First attempt at writing FanFiction :)</p>
<p>Thank you for stopping by!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Draco woke with a start. His heart racing and fingers trembling around his wand. Remnants of fear and terror from a time when falling asleep was falling to risk.</p>
<p>He took in his surroundings and took a breath. He was safe. That time had passed.</p>
<p>A warm fire crackled softly creating a soft glow in the common room. Two teacups perched on the coffee table that held scattered books and scattered hopes and parchment painted with scribbled notes.</p>
<p>Draco sat up and stretched his arms above his head, preparing to plop onto his bed and worry about his N.E.W.T.S in the morning. As he went to stand, he noticed Granger had also fallen asleep. Her lithe body relaxed and stretched on the sofa across from him. A blanket draped haphazardly over her middle, exposing the lean length of her legs. He watched the slow and steady rise and fall of her chest. A small trickle of moonlight drifting over her body so every breath created a tidal wave of white. Draco was entranced by the soft crinkle of her nose and small twitches in her fingers that rested above her head, lightly grasping a quill. Her hair billowed out behind her head, creating a pillow of curls that framed her face. Her lips slightly parted, a whisper of breath blew a stray curl that lay across face in a beautiful ebb and flow.</p>
<p>She sighed softly and shifted, twisting her arm and rolling slightly on her side, the blanket now tumbling gently to the floor. Draco’s breath hitched as her shifting revealed the scar that tarnished otherwise perfect, smooth skin.</p>
<p>
  <em> Mudblood.</em>
</p>
<p>He could see it a million times and it wouldn’t change the immediate effect of being pulled into that day. Into that room. The smell of blood, sweat, and fear. The sounds of pure terror and wicked cackling bouncing off the manor walls.</p>
<p>Pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes, he finally stood, ready to fall into bed and let the guilt and shame of his cowardice engulf him. Taking a final look down at Granger, he reached to move the errant curl away from her mouth and paused. She was too bright. She was the sun and he was Icarus. Her purity and light radiated so strongly and out of every inch of her body that if he touched her, he was sure he'd fall and drown in the depths of his darkness. The fading black skull on his outstretched arm reminded him that there was no place for his darkness in her radiance; no place for shadows. Dropping his arm and turning away, he heard a soft sigh.</p>
<p>“Malfoy?”</p>
<p>Her voice laced with sleepy dust sounded like a distant and beautiful melody that would never exist in his compositions. She looked dreamy; a small quirk to her lips and deep golden pools stared up under thick lashes. Lifting the blanket from the floor and gently draping it back over her figure, careful not to touch her he whispered</p>
<p>“Go back to sleep, Granger”.</p>
<p>He made his retreat back to his room, stopping with his hand on his door frame. He glanced back to the sofa where he was sure she had fallen back into a peaceful slumber. Like a prayer to himself he whispered</p>
<p>“I am so sorry, <em>Hermione</em>.”</p>
<p>His voice dripping with the guilt and shame of seven years of mistakes. He crossed the threshold and gently closed the door. Unaware that those deep golden pools never closed again, and she didn’t drift back to sleep.</p>
<p>She sat up slowly, not sure if she actually heard the desperate apology or if her mind was playing tricks on her. She stared at the closed door, delicately brushing her finger back and forth over her forearm.</p>
<p>“I forgive you, <em>Draco</em>.”</p>
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